Hero Worship in Action: The Case of Amy Hunt

This week, the United Kingdom discovered a new sporting heroine in the European Games.

Amy Hunt won four gold medals in an increasing blaze of publicity.

As the BBC enthused, Amy has never been afraid to choose the hard path.

Undertaking an English literature degree at Cambridge University, she was determined to prove, as she did in winning silver at last year's World Championships, that you could be an academic badass and a track goddess.

The publicity machine moved into top gear when Amy won the first gold medal in the 100-metre speech, 100-metre sprint early in the tournament.

The descriptions were not unlike those accorded to the most dazzling stars of the entertainment business arriving for the Oscars ceremony.

And like those stars, Amy is comfortable in the limelight, someone more than able to help create a superstar image for herself.

The evidence is clear.

England has a potential Olympic champion.

Even the Guardian lost its usual composure.

If there is any remaining doubt that this has been Amy Hunt's summer, it was dispelled over 10 seconds of controlled fury at the Olympic Championships as Britain's newest sporting superstar completed an unprecedented quadruple.

When the baton was slapped into the 24-year-old's hand on the anchor leg of the mixed 4x100 metres relay, she was a fraction behind Gina Lueckenkemper of Germany.

But then Hunt became the hunter and a record breaker.

In no time, those long legs began to whirr, her vast stride started to widen, and she found her wings.

First Lueckenkemper was chased down, then Hunt ran into history.

End of Guardian quote.